Most of us know the basics: On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine set off from their high camp at roughly 27,000 feet on Everest's North Ridge. That day, at 12:50 PM, their teammate, Noel Odell, last saw the pair less than 1,000 feet from the summit...just before they disappeared into a pre-monsoon snow squall. Mallory & Irvine reappeared only in the pages of history.

And, so began the greatest mystery of mountaineering - perhaps the greatest mystery of all exploration: Did George Mallory & Andrew Irvine reach the summit of Everest in 1924, a full 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary & Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climbed the mountain from the Southeast Ridge?

And, since it is now eleven years since I stood with my teammates Conrad Anker, Dave Hahn, Tap Richards, and Andy Politz, high on the North Face of Everest as we investigated the remains of George Mallory, I thought I'd take some time to offer up my opinion on what really happened to Mallory & Irvine so many years ago.

Let me first start by saying it is simply that: opinion. No one...well, no one but Mallory & Irvine...knows for sure what happened on that fateful day. No one can say with any degree of certainty that they reached the top on June 8, 1924, and likewise no one can say with any degree of certainty that they did not reach the top. It is simply a game of conjecture and personal opinion.

So, I will offer mine, which is based on my own personal bias, but also on a lot of experience with the story, the mystery, and the mountain:

2004: I returned to the Northeast Ridge with Dave Hahn for a small scale search expedition. I searched and scoured most of the prominent gully systems in the Yellow Band, a place many believe holds potential answers. I also located the remains of the 1938 Camp VI on the Northeast Shoulder, earning the dubious distinction of being the only person to visit and document all pre-World War II high camps on Everest.

So, the mystery: We should start with
the relatively little that is known about the duo's disappearance in
1924:

As mentioned, Mallory & Irvine
were last seen by their teammate, Noel Odell, at 12:50 PM
disappearing into a monsoon squall. Their location was most likely
atop either the First or the Second Step; as Odell put it, they were
on top of “the great rock step at a short distance from the base
of the final pyramid.”

In 1933, British climber Percy
Wyn-Harris stopped on some limestone “terraces” just below the
First Step to warm his cold feet. Looking into the rubble of the
Yellow Band below him, he noticed some wood. Investigating, he found
an ice ax which was later determined, most believe, to be Andrew
Irvine's ax. (We know it had
to be either Mallory or Irvine's, as no one else had been to that
point on the Northeast Ridge aside from them.)

In
1960, Chinese climber Xu Jing was ascending through the Yellow Band
toward the Chinese Camp VII on the Northeast Ridge and spotted a
body. He first recounted his discovery to Jochen Hemmleb and Eric
Simonson after our 2001 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition,
and later elaborated to several other interested parties. While the
details are shrouded somewhat by forty plus years of time, Xu
consistently places his “body” in the Yellow Band en route to
the Northeast Ridge crest. His description seems to indicate the
body was sitting upright in the lee side of a dihedral, or “open
book”, in the Yellow Band strate.

Fifteen
years later, in 1975, another Chinese climber, Wang Hung Bao, saw a
(presumably) different body in a 20 minute vicinity of Chinese Camp
VI on the North Face. He later described the body as an “English
dead”, noting to Japanese climber Hasegawa that the clothing
disintegrated when he touched it, and it's “cheeks” had been
pecked at by birds. (Massive Tibetan ravens, called goraks,
are commonly seen high on Everest, scavenging camps and human
remains.

In
1999, our expedition discovered the remains of George Mallory at
nearly 27,000 feet on the North Face. Important artifacts recovered
include his watch, altimeter, detailed equipment lists and notes,
goggles, and climbing rope. Also of great import was the discovery
of numerous, severe injuries sustained in a fall, or falls.
Additional discoveries were made by cameraman Thom Pollard and Andy
Politz on May 17, 1999, when they revisited Mallory's remains and
found his watch and discovered a severe head wound. On that same
day, Tap Richards and I re-discovered and recovered Oxygen Bottle #9
from just below the First Step. Seen by Eric Simonson in 1991, this
was one of Mallory & Irvine's oxygen bottles from their summit
attempt.

In
2001, I discovered with Brent Okita the remains of the 1924 Camp VI
on the North Ridge at just under 27,000 feet. Very few items were
found in the camp remains. Additionally, I discovered a heavy,
woolen mitten at the top of the “Climber's Gullies” on the
Northeast Ridgecrest, which could have been either Mallory or
Irvine's mitten, but realistically tells us very little.

There
is a substantial amount of additional research and findings, done
through the hard work, passion, and effort of many people, including
Jochen Hemmleb, Tom Holzel, Pete Poston, Phil Summers, and others. I
would suggest that anyone interested read more online, since this is, as
noted, simply one of many theories on the fate of Mallory &
Irvine.

So,
there we have the beginnings...Too much to write in simply on post,
so please stay tuned for Part II of the story where I'll go in depth
into what I believe happened to Mallory & Irvine 86 years ago.

I think we'll have an answer in the next 10 years or so! Cant be too long before Sandys body is discovered and hopefully put the mystery to rest in our lifetime!
Or maybe it'll just provide us with more questions than answers like George did!
True legends!